1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a utility belt system and, more specifically, to an ergonomic convenient-to-use retainer for detachably attaching an accessory to a modular/customizable utility belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tool bags and/or belt-supported pouches for carrying nails, screws, bolts and other tools are well known in the industry. Typically, a “tool belt” is a belt having a number of pouches and/or tool holders fixedly or permanently attached to the belt. However, since no two people are alike or perform their tasks in the same way, the preferred locations, sizes and shapes of the pouches and tool holders vary according to the tradesperson and the task at hand. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool belt that can be easily modified to suit the individual and the task at hand.
Numerous tool bags and tool belts have been proposed that have removable or interchangeable pouches or tool holders. However, these tool bags have offered a limited range of adjustability, and the pouches and tool holders can be easily knocked off of the belt, causing nails, screws, bolts and/or tools to fall and possibly scatter. This is especially dangerous when a person is working at a higher level and other people are below him or her.
The known tool belts have also exhibited disadvantages in the ways in which pouches or object-receiving receptacles are added, removed or interchanged. As suggested, such receptacles have typically been permanently attached to the tool belts. When removable, these items have been inconvenient, difficult or awkward to attach or detach from the tool belt, especially when the pouches or receptacles are large, bulky or heavy. With most tool belts, pouches are provided with loops through which the belts can be threaded. With such tool belts, pouches or receptacles can be removed only by opening the belt and sliding all the pouches off one or the other end of the belt. Examples of such tool belts are described in U.S. Design Pat. No. D302,489 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,105. Other patents disclose the use of various fasteners, such as snaps, hook and loop tape (e.g., “VELCRO”) and the like. These fasteners frequently make it difficult, if not impossible, to detach the pouch, especially if one has to do this with one hand while the other hand is occupied. The fasteners are typically behind the pouches, which means that they must be released or forcibly separated or pulled apart, with the user's force moving in a direction substantially away from the user. And most tool belts are not intended to facilitate the attachment, detachment or interchange of pouches in the context of difficult or complicated conditions, such as while climbing a ladder, stretched out under a car, crouched in a tight space, etc.